Bullying prevention in school

Introduction

Bullying is a problem that can derail a child’s schooling, social life and emotional well-
being. According to FBI, bullying remains one of the largest problems in schools with the
percentage of students reportedly bullied at least once per week steadily increasing since
1999. The issue has gained more attention in recent years because of technology
development and new ways to communicate and harass the others such as the internet, cell
phones and social media. Bullying occurs for a large part within the school’s perimeters. For
example, in the lunchroom, locker room, outside the building or even in the classroom.
Adults may have a tendency to ignore bullying and expect it as a normal part of life that all
kids go through. But bullying is a real problem with serious consequences. Schools have
professionals available. This includes having all teachers, staff and parents to find ways to
reduce this problem and they have a real capacity to be positive force to diminish these
occurrences. There are some ways to reduce bullying amongst the students in school such
as have an open communication, engage parents and youth, look for warning signs and
build a safe environment.

Have an open communication

Communication is the key to build rapport. When teachers have open communication
with their students, their students will feel more comfortable and open to talk to them about
their problems including bullying. One of the effective methods that can help teachers to
reduce bullying cases is having classroom meetings. Having this kind of meeting is one way
to build that communication. The teachers should provide classroom activities, give some
motivated talks and discussions related to bullying and violence, including strategies to
reduce their incidence and the effect of bullying to sensitize students and promote self-
awareness. The teachers also should teach the children skills for handling bullies through
role play. For example, the student can write plays and act out many different bullying
scenarios in the classroom. Each child should act out being the bully, the bully supporter and
the victim to gain more tangible understanding. The students should have a clear definition
of bullying by identify in books, shows and movies and discuss the impact of that bullying
and how to solve it. Make sure the children can talk, give their opinion about bullying and
have a peer relationship amongst them.
Engage parents and youth

Many people are involved in children’s lives. They all have an impact. The biggest
difference can be made in a child’s life if these people work together to overcome this issue.
Students and parents need to be a part of the solution and involved in safety teams and anti-
bullying task forces. The teachers need to keep parents informed about their child’s grades,
friend, behaviour and even attitudes in school. Therefore, parents can get to know and have
a better understanding about their child's feeling. Thus, teachers and staff need to build
rapport with the parents of their students to provide a consistent approach to introduce more
productive and appropriate replacement behaviours. Besides that, the students can inform
adults about what is really going on and also tell adults about new technologies that kids are
using to bully. The schools can also launch an awareness campaign under the cooperation
teachers and parents to send a unified message against bullying and make the objectives
known to the community members. They have to encourage parent participation by
establishing on-school parent centres that recruit, coordinate and encourage parents to take
part in the educational process and volunteer to assist in school activities and projects.
That’s why it is important for everyone in the community to work together to help students
engage in positive behaviour and teach them skills, so that they know how to intervene when
bullying occurs.

Look for warning signs

Bullying is a behaviour that includes a whole range of actions that cause physical or
emotional pain from spreading rumours to intentional exclusion to physical abuse. Many
children do not tell their parents or teachers about it out of fear of shame or retribution. When
bullying is occurring, there may be warning signs. It is important that parents, teachers and
other adults constantly look for bullying behaviours. There are many warning signs that may
point to bullying problems such as unexplained cuts or bruises, damaged or missing
clothing, books, school supplies or other belongings, loss of appetite, trouble sleeping,
emotionally reticent, sudden poor performance in school work, no longer wanting to hang out
with friends and asking to stay home sick because of frequent complaint of headaches,
stomach aches or other ailments. Therefore, parents and teachers should ask questions
about the children’s school day including experiences on the way to and from school, lunch,
recess and about their peers, so that parents and teachers can take the appropriate steps to
rectify the situation. Most importantly, let the children know that their parents and teachers
will help them and they should not to fight back.
Build a safe environment

Schools and classrooms must offer students a safe learning environment. Teachers
need to explicitly reminding students that bullying is prohibited in school and such
behaviours will face consequences by creating an anti-bullying document for both students
and parents. This will help students to understand the seriousness of bullying. Besides that,
teachers and administrators can facilitate friendships or provide tasks during lunch and
recess for the students who have a hard time for adjusting or finding friends, so that they do
not feel isolated or in danger of becoming targets for bullying. Then, schools have to provide
teachers with effective classroom management training. They should ensure that all
teachers have effective classroom management training to address bullying because the
research suggests that classes containing students with behavioural, emotional or learning
problems have more bullies and victims, so that the teachers in those classes may require
additional tailored training in spotting and handling bullying. Therefore, to build a safe
environment for the students, teachers need to establish a school culture of acceptance,
tolerance and respect including reinforce positive social interactions and inclusiveness.

Conclusion

Bullying has been a problem in our society since it is inception and will not easily
disappear. Thus, the community need to take these initiatives seriously to reduce bullying
cases amongst student such as have an open communication, engage parents and youth,
look for warning signs and build a safe environment. It is nearly impossible to solve bullying
cases in a short time but it can be prevented with cooperation between schools, teachers,
administrators and parents.
Speaker 2 – Government responsibilities to reduce bullying amongst students

Assalamualaikum w.b.t and a very good afternoon to my respected lecturer and friends.
Today I am going to share with all of you about the government responsibilities to against
bullying amongst the students in school. First of all, the government have to educate
students and school staff by building bullying prevention material into the curriculum and
school activities. They should train teachers and staff on the school’s rules and policies.
Government can also hire counsellors to teach the teachers and staff many skills to get them
know how to intervene consistently and appropriately when bullying occurs.

Next, government should solve this problem by spreading bullying prevention

information through media social such as advertisement, film, facebook, twitter, instagram
and many more. In a contact of film industry, government should encourage them to produce
many movies that illustrate moral values instead of showing violence and harassment to
them that can lead those children to act more aggressively. Lastly, it is important for
government to launch an awareness campaign to make the objectives known to the school,
parents and community members. Through this campaign, government can send unified
message against bullying and ways to prevent it. As a conclusion, it is significant for us to
take a serious action on preventing bullying cases that happen in school. If we do not take
the actions promptly, the problem will never be solved. That’s all from me. Thank you.
References

Erin Hellwig. (2015). 10 Ways to Help Reduce Bullying in Schools. Retrieved from
mmmihttps://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/November-2011/10-Ways-to-Help-Reduce-
mmmiBullying-in-Schools

U. S. Department Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Prevention at School. Retrieved from
mmmihttps://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/at-school/index.html

U. S. Department Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Engage parents and youth. Retrieved
mmmifrom http://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/at-school/engage-parents/index.html

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Warning signs. Retrieved
mmmifrom http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/warning-signs/index.html

McCarthy, T. (2009). 100 Writing Lessons. United States: Scholastic Teaching Resourses.